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1982 World Series
The 1982 World Series matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Milwaukee Brewers, with the Cardinals winning in seven games. The Cardinals won the National League East division by three games over the Philadelphia Phillies, then defeated the Atlanta Braves, three games to none, in the National League Championship Series. The Brewers won the American League East division by one game over the Baltimore Orioles, then defeated the California Angels, three games to two, in the American League Championship Series. Though the teams had never met, the cities had an existing commercial rivalry in the beer market, as St. Louis is the home of Anheuser Busch while Milwaukee is the home of Miller Brewing. This led to a few minor references to the Series being nicknamed the "Suds Series." After setting a World Series record with his fifth hit, in the 9th inning of Game 1, Paul Molitor would set another record in the 7th inning of Game 5 by becoming the first player in Series history to have two four-hit games. Cardinals catcher Darrell Porter was given the Series MVP award. Brewers pitcher Mike Caldwell, who won two games, would have been a strong candidate, as well as Molitor. Paul Molitor would eventually win the Series MVP Award 11 years later as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. As it was, the winning team won the MVP. The only player on the losing team to win the MVP was Bobby Richardson of the 1960 New York Yankees. Both participants are currently in the NL Central, due to the transfer of the Brewers from the American League to the National League in . This raises the possibility of the Brewers eventually playing a World Series in two different leagues. That has happened twice before, taking the 19th Century contests into account: The Brooklyn Dodgers of 1889 and 1890, and the Cardinals, who won the 1886 Series when they were in the Association. Preview The 1982 Milwaukee Brewers hit 216 home runs during the regular season, thus earning them the nickname Harvey's Wallbangers (after manager Harvey Kuenn). In a sharp contrast, the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals only hit 67 home runs, fewer than Gorman Thomas' 39 and Ben Oglivie's 34 combined. The Cardinals had built their reputation and won their division behind solid pitching, exceptional defense, and aggressive base running, they manufactured runs in a style that would come to be called “Whiteyball,” after Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog who managed the Cardinals from 1980 to 1990. This style would be the hallmark of the Cardinals through the 1980s and see them into 2 more world series (in 1985 and 1987) The American League MVP Rollie Fingers was not available for the Brewers during the 1982 World Series due to a torn arm muscle. Coincidentally, Fingers was traded from the San Diego Padres to St. Louis in December 1980, but when the Cardinals acquired Sutter from the Chicago Cubs later that winter, Fingers was then shipped to Milwaukee before ever donning a Cardinal uniform. Summary NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs AL Milwaukee Brewers (3) Matchups Game 1 Tuesday, October 12, 1982 at Busch Stadium II in St. Louis, Missouri Game 1 was all Brewers. Left-hander Mike Caldwell pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only three hits. The Brewers' offense was led by Paul Molitor, who had a World Series-record five hits and two RBIs. Robin Yount added four hits and two RBIs, while former Cardinal Ted Simmons homered and Jim Gantner had a two-run triple. Game 2 Wednesday, October 13, 1982 at Busch Stadium II in St. Louis, Missouri The Brew Crew drew first blood in the second with an RBI double by Charlie Moore. They followed that in the third when Paul Molitor singled, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch by Cardinals starter John Stuper, and scored on a Robin Yount groundout. Ted Simmons stretched the lead to 3-0 with his second solo homer in two games. The Cardinals scratched back in their half of the third when rookie Willie McGee singled, stole second, and scored on a Tom Herr double. Ken Oberkfell singled in Herr to cut the Brewer lead to 3–2. The Brewers made it 4–2 in the fifth when Yount doubled and Cecil Cooper singled him in. Darrell Porter tied it in the sixth by doubling in two runs. Then, in the top of the eighth, the Brewers felt the effects of not having Rollie Fingers in the bullpen. With one out, Pete Ladd, pressed into service as the closer, walked Lonnie Smith with two on to load the bases and then walked pinch-hitter Steve Braun to force in the go-ahead run. The Cardinals could have made it worse, but McGee lined out to short for out #2, and an apparent base hit by Ozzie Smith struck Braun as he was running to second for the third out. Bruce Sutter pitched the ninth and got credit for the win. Game 3 Friday, October 15, 1982 at County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Joaquín Andújar and Pete Vuckovich, each team's pitching aces, were locked in a scoreless pitching duel until the top half of the fifth, when Willie McGee belted a three-run homer for the Cards. The Redbirds added two more in the seventh off Vuckovich. Lonnie Smith doubled to right-center and tried to stretch it to a triple. Smith scored when Jim Gantner's relay throw to third went wild. McGee followed with a solo home run later in the inning, his second. McGee also had a couple of defensive gems, running down a deep Paul Molitor drive in the fourth and robbing Gorman Thomas of a home run in the ninth. In the seventh with one out, Andujar had to leave the game when a line drive from Ted Simmons struck his kneecap. The Brewers loaded the bases in that inning, but ace reliever Bruce Sutter got the final out to squelch the threat. Cecil Cooper accounted for the Brewers' only runs with a two-run homer in the eighth off Sutter, while Ozzie Smith drove in the Cardinals final run with a bases-loaded walk. Sutter qualified for the save in this game (even though the Cards had a 5-0 lead when he entered the game), since he entered with the bases loaded, meaning the potential tying run was on deck. Game 4 Saturday, October 16, 1982 at County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin For six innings, the Cardinals seemed on the verge of taking an insurmountable 3–1 series lead. Dave LaPoint held the Brewers to three hits in that time span, while his hitters plated five runs for a 5–1 lead. Two of the runs came in the second on an unusual two-run sacrifice fly by Tom Herr, with Willie McGee and Ozzie Smith scoring. Smith took advantage of left fielder Ben Oglivie taking too much time getting the ball back to the infield. But, in the seventh, things fell apart. With one out, Ogilvie reached first when first baseman Keith Hernandez tossed wildly to LaPoint covering the bag on a ground ball. Jeff Lahti relieved and retired the next batter, but it should have been the third out. Before the inning ended, six runs crossed the plate for the Brewers on an RBI double by Jim Gantner, an RBI single by Cecil Cooper, and a pair of bases-loaded, two-run singles by Robin Yount and Gorman Thomas. Game 5 Sunday, October 17, 1982 at County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mike Caldwell pitched his second win of the Series and almost went the distance. The Cardinals staged a late rally in the ninth as Keith Hernandez doubled in a run and George Hendrick singled him in with two outs. Bob McClure came in and allowed a single to Darrell Porter, putting the tying run on base. McClure, however, retired pinch-hitter Gene Tenace to end the game. Game 6 Tuesday, October 19, 1982 at Busch Stadium II in St. Louis, Missouri Game 6 was hampered by two rain delays that totaled over 2½ hours. The Cardinals staved off elimination with a blowout. Darrell Porter and Keith Hernandez both had two-run homers and Hernandez added a two-run single. Dane Iorg had two doubles and a triple as rookie John Stuper went the distance (helped by the rain delays), scattering four hits. Game 7 Wednesday, October 20, 1982 at Busch Stadium II in St. Louis, Missouri Joaquín Andújar and Pete Vuckovich opposed each other once again. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when the Cardinals scored first on a Lonnie Smith RBI single. Ben Oglivie tied it for the Brew Crew in the fifth with a solo homer, and they took a 3–1 lead in the sixth when Jim Gantner scored on an error and Cecil Cooper hit a sacrifice fly. But, in the bottom of the sixth, Vuckovich began to run into trouble. With one out, Ozzie Smith singled and Lonnie Smith doubled him to third. Brewers manager Harvey Kuenn then pulled Vuckovich in favor of Bob McClure, who intentionally walked pinch-hitter Gene Tenace to load the bases. Keith Hernandez then tied the game with a two-run single. George Hendrick then gave the Cardinals the lead with an RBI single. The Cardinals punctuated the scoring with two runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Series MVP Darrell Porter and Steve Braun. Andujar pitched seven strong innings and Bruce Sutter pitched the eighth and ninth for his second save. Composite Box 1982 World Series (4-3): St. Louis Cardinals (N.L.) over Milwaukee Brewers (A.L.) |}} Broadcasting This was the final World Series telecast for longtime NBC analyst Tony Kubek, and the only one for veteran announcer Dick Enberg. Enberg hosted the pregame shows and alternated play-by-play duties (Enberg called the middle innings) with Joe Garagiola, who was himself working his last Series in that role before moving to the color commentator position alongside Vin Scully (who called the 1982 World Series alongside Sparky Anderson for CBS Radio) the following season. Conversely, this was NBC's first Series telecast to feature Bob Costas (who served as a field reporter and hosted the World Series Trophy presentation following Game 7). Costas and Kubek would subsequently team up as the network's secondary MLB announcing team from to . Series quotes Notes References *Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 393-397) * External links *1982 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com *[http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1982 1982 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)] *1982 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com *For All You Do, This Hug's For You at SI.com *History of the World Series - 1982 at SportingNews.com *1982 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org *1982 St. Louis Cardinals at baseballlibrary.com *1982 Milwaukee Brewers at baseballlibrary.com Category:World Series World Series Category:St. Louis Cardinals postseason Category:Milwaukee Brewers